Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has claimed that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ordinance is being “held hostage by a bureaucratic takeover”. Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said stakeholders had hoped the gazetted NHRC ordinance would free the commission from longstanding bureaucratic control and align it with international standards and public expectations. He said changes to the selection committee on Dec 8, barely a month later, have turned that possibility into a tool of government control. It is part of a continuing pattern of government influence over the human rights commission and other constitutional and legal bodies,” he added. The inclusion of the cabinet secretary in the selection committee, he said, alone undermines the commission’s independence, neutrality, and effectiveness.

Source: bd News24 December 13, 2025 14:40 UTC